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Criminal Responsibility For Uspecified Offences, Alon Harel, Ariel Porat

Alon Harel

Should a court convict a defendant for unspecified offenses if there is no reasonable doubt that he committed an offence, even though no particular offence has been proven beyond reasonable doubt? Suppose a defendant is charged with two unrelated offenses, for example, pick-pocketing and rape, allegedly committed at different times and places. The probability that he committed each one of the offenses is .9. Assume that the minimum threshold required for conviction is .95. Under prevailing evidence law, the defendant would be acquitted of both charges since no offense can be specifically attributed to him. However, a simple calculation of …